I was at a playdate the other day when a few mom friends were asking "How do you keep your kids busy during the summer." Since this is our first summer with a baby and an almost 2nd grader I had to come up with something that would keep them both happy. The baby needs to stay in the house and nap which means the big kids and I have to stay in the house which used to be fine when the kids were younger, but now that Kellyn has been through 2 years of elementary school she is used to her day being scheduled with not much down time. So I searched pinterest and found a few ideas, but ended up completely copying this mom's brilliant ideas.
Summer Daily Must-Do's
- READING: Read for 20 minutes (some read for longer – that’s fine!) My newly 5 year old listens to books on CD.
- WRITING: Write a page in your journal (write about whatever you want, write a story, write about what happened yesterday, or pick a writing idea from a list of writing prompts we’ve got; younger children can work on learning to write letters) This has also been a good time to write Thank You notes and letters to friends. I had Kellyn make a list of friends she wants to write to that she thinks will write back. It's been fun and a good way for them to learn how to address an envelope.
- PHYSICAL EXERCISE: Do a physical activity (can be individual or do it as a group – ride bikes or scooters, play tag, go for a walk, play at the playground, jump rope, shoot hoops)
- PRACTICING: Work towards one of your summer goals by practicing a skill for 20 minutes (piano, basketball, guitar, typing – each child has their short list of skills they want to develop)
- HOME: Do a job from the job list (we have a list of 5-10 minute household jobs that need to be completed each week – i.e. dust the living room, weed one flower bed, vacuum the stairs, wipe down the kids’ bathroom sink)
- EXTRA: From the approved list of ideas we brainstormed together, pick an extra activity to do on your own or with siblings. Do online reading or math games, play a board game with siblings, do extra reading or writing, paint or draw, etc.
Summer Daily Fun Activities
- Make-it Monday - Building projects with Zoobs, Legos or Lincoln Logs, craft projects, art projects, a visit to the library to learn about artists and inventors and engineering. We've used Wikki Sticks, clay, and homemade moon dough! We've also made fun new foods like watermelon sorbet, fruit pizza, hand cookies.
- Take a trip Tuesday (the park, a museum, a bike ride, a field trip to a historic place, a factory tour, a picnic, a friend’s house…We often invited other kids or other families along)
We took a trip to the Heritage Farmstead in Plano with The Anders and Pattersons!
We also took a trip to the Perot Museum and my husband was able to go with us since he was working in Dallas that day!
And we went with lots of friends from the Carrollton Early Childhood PTA to tour The Lavon Dairy Farm in Plano.
The kids enjoyed hanging on the fence and watching the cows. After the tour we enjoyed some drinkable yogurt outside the store. I also bought some raw butter! Max forbid me to buy raw milk, but they do sell it. But don't forget we sell grass fed beef. :)
- Wet Wednesday (swim/go to a spash pad/play in the sprinklers, often with friends and neighbors)
For one of our Wet Wednesdays I put up the water slide and gave them each a can of dollar store shaving cream. :) The Slip N Slide and sprinkler are always a popular choice as well.
We also frequent the splash pads and water parks such as
Although we've had Wet Everyday not just Wednesday. My kids are fish (or rather a mermaid and a penguin as they refer to themselves) and want to be in the pool all the time. However, this summer with a baby, has made that a little more challenging and little less often than last summer. We have been blessed to have friends with pools or friends who live in Castle Hills and invite us to their cool community pools. :)
- Thinking Thursday (research something from our “wondering list” – a list of things we’re wondering about. Last summer we had a great time finding out how to make yogurt, how cars are made, where baby carrots come from and how monster trucks work thanks to YouTube, Wikipedia and library trips) My kids are interested in dinosaurs, paleontology, decomposition, fossils...
- Fun, Free for All Friday - Choose whatever you want. We usually leave this day open for unexpected things to come up or to schedule a play date. Fridays tend to be busy without being planned. I signed them up for Kids Skate Free so we usually do that on Friday nights now and we always have Family Movie Night on Fridays.
Puddle jumping is always a fun Friday activity after a good rain.
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